BRICS tax authorities ink institutional document to enhance cooperation

HANGZHOU — Tax authorities of the five BRICS countries inked a landmark document Thursday to establish a mechanism for taxation cooperation.

The BRICS Taxation Cooperation Memorandum signed at the fifth Meeting of BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities is the bloc's first document that elevates taxation cooperation to the institutional level.

At the meeting, the authorities also agreed to cooperate on taxation information exchange, improve consultation procedures efficiency, boost taxation capacities and planned paths for coordination of taxation policies and tax collection.

The meeting comes ahead of the 2017 BRICS Summit to be held in Xiamen, Fujian province, from September 3 to 5.

The BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are home to 42 percent of the world's population. Their total share in the global economy has risen from 12 percent to 23 percent in the past decade, while contributing more than half of global growth.